Lessa Stiles

Captain Lessa Stiles was born under the still rapidly expanding arm of the Concordat in Sector 18, a child of two military parents. Vilhe Stiles, her father, took a year off from active duty to provide for and care for her while her mother, Eressa Stiles, continued her tour of duty in the Ondurian Border Wars occurring at the time.

Born a mundane, she nevertheless had none of the usual bias usually proffered at the augmented. As a young child she stood up for two mage children in her neighborhood, Rithvel Saugh and Ourassa, a Kobold boy and a Troll girl respectively. The three remain friends to this day.

While not the most intelligent child, she was good at thinking quickly and had a natural charisma that helped her. She didn't have much time with her parents; usually one would take time off to spend with her while the other was off in the navy. Neither felt it was acceptable for her to be on the ships with them, believing it would be better for her to grow up planet-side. Her grandparents lent significant time and effort caring for her as well. Lessa, for her own part, grew up with a very powerful sense of discovery and exploration on the relatively untouched world of Vilarus Prime, spending hours and sometimes whole days out in the hills and woods surrounding their settlement city. Lessa also had an early interest in acting and theater, both of which she was fantastic at, but her desires eventually led her in a different direction.

Lessa enlisted in Concordat Navy at 15 and was accepted at the primary Naval Academy at Charon, a source of great pride to both her parents. While her primary interests were in being an explorer, she was quickly tested and found competent in command and security lines. Lessa had considerable difficulty at the academy, mostly due to her abrasive relationships with her instructors and her refusal to accept that a military mindset was required even at peace-time. Her lessons were shifted during her stay at the behest of several of her instructors, sliding her into the Officer's Track without her ever having applied. While at Charon, she entered a mostly casual relationship with one of her fellow Concordians, an Elven gentleman named Farothin Strider. The two graduated a year apart and ended up assigned to the same vessel, the CMS Len Wire, with her serving as a bridge Officer and him as one of the Naval Guard. Both served in several border skirmishes against the Vorsaat, and she was promoted by the end of her first tour of duty to Lieutenant.

In the year 151, Stiles formally retired from Concordian space and took a willing retirement into one of the Settlement Systems, Resirce. Arriving in a small shuttle, she quickly established herself as someone who could get things done quickly and efficiently, and became one of the more popular Freelancers in the outer colonies. Within a few months she'd saved up enough money to upgrade to the FES Longhaul, as well as hire on some crew.